What's so wrong with luck?

[Nikki]

I know a lot of Christians on here get offended if you say "good luck" or "wish me luck". Why is that?

I say it all the time. For instance, when my kids were in a talent show, I said to them "Good Luck"! I figure "Good Luck" is better than "Break a leg" because knowing my "luck", they would literally end up with a broken leg!

 

[cubedbee]

Luck is random chance. Christians know that God governs all and that there is nothing random that happens. "Good luck" is hoping that random chance goes your way. Why not say "God bless" showing your hope that the God who controls "random" chance looks out for them?

 

[Drew]

I have always found the concept of "luck" to be challenging. Part of me is inclined to think that there really is no such thing (at least not in the sense that we normally conceive it) - that in reality, luck is a concept we use when we simply do not know the underlying mechanisms of some phenomena.

I think that luck is a much problematic concept than we generally think. I say this because I believe that the human mind essentially requires that some kind of mechanism be responsible for the outcome of any and all events. In other words, I think that "luck", the idea that the outcome of an event has an element of randomness, is a concept that we use but, deep inside, we cannot help but think it is an approximation, a temporary fix to cover our ignorance.

I am aware of the significant role that randomness plays in quantum physics. I still think the concept is problematic - "random chance" is a concept we can never be comfortable with, precisely because it clashes with the way our minds work. And here I want to draw an important distinction. I am not saying that luck is a workable concept that we, by virtue of our commitment to mechanistic explanation, have yet to adopt. I am saying something much stronger: that the necessary conditions to allow us to make sense of the world simply preclude the intelligibility of the concept of luck.

 

[Quath]

Excellent post, Drew. One thing that is taught in school and especially for a science type field is overcoming our internal biases. We study cases where luck pulls us in one direction, but math and science pull us in another.

Here is a common example. Imagine you have a fair 2 sided coin with a 50% chance of getting a heads. You flip it 100 times and it comes up heads. What is the probability when you flip it again, that you will get another heads?

Originally my gut intuitation says that for it to average to heads 50% of the time, we needs more tails to balance things out, so I would assume tails would be more likely. However, it is a fair coin and has no idea of its history. So it will in reality just be a 50% chance of heads.

So I know this stuff and have it ingrained into my thoughts. Yet when I was in Las Vegas, I had a lucky slot machine. Go figure.

Quath

 

[Scott]

luck

1. The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events; fortune: They met one day out of pure luck.

2. Good fortune or prosperity; success: We wish you luck.

3. One's personal fate or lot: It was just my luck to win a trip I couldn't take.


If you read the three definitions of luck, the first is the only one that addresses luck's origin. The other two use in a lighter sense and a lot less technical.

There are only two explanations for someone using the word.

A. They are a godless heathen who obviously doesn't believe in the one true God.

B. They are using either of the two other understandings of the word and the person who questions them on the usage is a knitpicker. In which case it may be necessary to buy them a dictionary and introduce them to the English language.

More often than not, I'd vote B.